Apparatus for curing concrete products.



L. A. BELLONBY. APPARATUS FORYCURING CONCRETE PRODUCTS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE l. 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Patented Apr.- 30

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lNVENTOR VWDTNESSES ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 39, 1918,

3 SHEETS-$HEET -2.

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L. A. BELLONBY. APPARATUS FOR CURING CONCRETE PRODUCTS.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE 1. I917- F/&. J.

u m (all rlr/yx A y/vx/v/v yx/v y/v A/r/vr lama/W4 fla /why ATTORN EY L. A. BELLONBY. APPARATUS FOR CURING CONCRETE PRODUCTS.

1 APPLICATlON HLED JUNE I, 91]- 1 fifi% 1%Qu Patented Apr. 80, 1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3- WITNESSES ATTOR N EY cured and removed from-the mold ready ."fOI use in an extremely short-time:

Be it known that I, LEONARD A, BELLoNnY, citizen of the United States residmg 'tremely simple construction, which involves the use of'but few parts of such construcects of theinvention. a With hese objects, 1n vlew together with I l Y proceeds, the invention resides: in the novel formation, combination and arrangement of tnoivann A. ,BELLONIBY, or natnnivrafn, knnrncnv.

To all whom it may mm.- i I 1 at Haldemamini the county of Rowan and State of-Kent11cky, have invented .certam new and useful Improvements in an Apparatus for Curing" Concrete Products, of which thefollowingis a specification.

This invention relatesto means for treating concrete or'cement products, by the use of which the wet miXed concrete can be Allfurther object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus for carrying' out this curing process, which is ofeX- tion as to be incapable of derangement, or breakage, which involves but little expense in its. maintenance and whichwill'prove thoroughly etlicientin carrying out the Oh others which will appear as the description partsyall as' will be described-more fully In thegdrawingsfl a i Figure :1 is a fragmentary sectional plan 7 view taken through a curing plant embodying the invention, t i

trating the heating coil,and :e

hereinafter,illustratedin the drawings, and

- tion being taken at right: angles through the tank,

the plastic material in hot water, and lastly,

I; subjecting thematerial to currents of heatsteam or vapor treatment for approximately particularly pointed out in the claims. .1 a

Fig. 2 is an-enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating the apparatus for filling or emptying'the tanks or compart ments, V

Fig. 3 is vertical sectional view taken throughone ofthe tanks m I a Fig. 4: s a view similar to Fig. 3,1 the-sec- F-ig. 5 is an enlarged sectional plan view taken through one otthetanks and illus- Fig. 6 is a view taken substantially upon t The method :for' obtaining .idesired .result, .consistsin placing the;.plast1c:.n1ater1al in suitable molds or contalners, SIlbJQCtlIIg the material todry steam, then immersing ed air. {The imaterialsare subjected to the mately thirty minutes.

sma hes- R cnnrnecoironnrn rnonners.

specaaiomaessea. Patentednpri3&1918. Applicationfildlune 1,1917. 'SerialNo.l72,274.

three hours, and after the water has been drawn. off, the plastic materials are subected to currents of heated air for approxi- By thus treating the plastic material, the completedand properly cured" concrete or cement products are produced at a great saving of time and expense,

one halfhour, and atthe expiration ofthis a time, the plastic material is immersed in Water a and the water boiled approximately and ithas been found'in practice the prod iucts produced by this method possess the -.strength and I durability of those produced by methods requiring many days for their completion. 1 i i this process comprises a plurality oftanks or compartments 5,1within which theplastics are placed.

It will beobserved that each tank or compartment comprises vertical and other such material, but it will "be under stood, of course, that any desired materials may be used in the construction of the tanks.

The apparatus employed for carrying-out right angularly disposed side and end walls, and the bottom 6 of each tank is provided ad acent one end with a depressed portion Projecting upwardly. fronrthe bottom 6 r 'of each tankand spaced a short distance from one 'of the end walls thereof, is a *rib or short retaining'wall 8, the latter forming one side of a shallow basin. 'This it basin has disposedtherein a steam heating coil indicated at 9.,the said heating coil :being so arranged within the basin that certain 'of the lengthsoi": the coil will be sub- 1 the: remaining portions "of the coil will pro- 'merged byiiwater within the basin, while- Disposed in spaced parallel relation the bottom 6 either tank and a shortdis- -tance above the luppermost coil of the steam heating agency, isa metallic plate 10, the "said plate being supported upon suitable I bea'ms indicated at 11; -This,1plate-eX- .tendsthroughout the? length and widthof 1 the tanks and is provided adjacent one end with an opening or aperture .12, 1 through which steamorvapor generated from the water within; the basin, or heat eminating-l from the coil 9 may pass to the uppersurface of the said plate. Arranged around the edges of the tank and projecting into the same a short distance are shelves or ledges 13, the latter being adapted to support trays or molds for the plastic materials to beltreated', and these shelves are evenly spaced apart throughout substantially the entire height of the tank. The

lower-most shelf 13 ,is. providedatits end I in passing to the upper end otthe tank.v It

willv berunderstood, of cour se,-that :the central openings 'definedzbythe edges aof the shelves 13 'are to be closed by the. .traysor containers for the. plastic materials. 7 One endio fthe tank is provided with a duct-16,

..-the said duct extending throughout substantially the. entire width of theflnd, and communicates at,its. upper end with the interior of ,the tank. adjacent the uppermost jshelf ,or ledgetherein. .TlllS ductl6 con- .stfitutes a r eturn for; moisture or water at the upper end of the tank. It willbe observedthat this duct communicates at its lower end with the interior ofthe tank a h rt. dist c a ve the. bottom vthereof.

Arranged preferably at an intermediate point between the, varioustanks .or compartments 5 and below, the bottom thereof ijs a collecting pipe 17,,the said pipe being utilized topontrol the flow otwater to and fironr ,the various tanks- I This collecting pipenllw is relatively: large, and has..pro-

jetting. outwardly therefrom a. plurality of smaller. pipes .18; the latterv communicating atthe'ir outer. extremities with the interior "of. theftanks and Within the basinsupon the ,the'...flow' of. steam into the various tanks 'or compartments ,may be controlled... A conventional form of-pump isindicated at sai iitank. bottoms. .Y These, .drain pipes for the basins may be equipped with valves indicatedat 19...,inFig. 1 of thedrawings.

Theugutters of the :tanks are .also incommunication with. the collecting .pipe 17, relatively short lengths of, pipe 20 being employed, and eachof these pipes 20 may .beyprovidednvvith valves 21. .A feed or steampipe is indicated at 22,-and this feed plpe may be {provided with suitablebranch pipes, each of which communicates with the lowerend of theadjacent tank. Valves 23 areiarrangedin these various pipes, sothat 24:, thesaid pump being in communication with the drainpand collecting pipes 20 and 17. By operating the pump, water may be directed into the tanks or may be removed EhQI'GflOlll illlCl it-is obvious that by proper manipulation of the various valves, any one or all of the said tanks may be filled or emptied.

In operation, the plastic material to be treatedrisqplaced in molds or trays, and the said trays are positioned upon the various shelves arranged iuspaccd relation. throughout theheight .ofthe tank. VVateriis then supplied tothe shallow basin at the bottom ofthetank. :A cover 30 formed of suitable material is. then placed over the upper open end .of thetank. The admission of steam to the steam coil ,9 causes the-water in the shallow basin toibecome highly heated, filldrl'l'lt. steamer vapor thusgenerated rises and superheated and partiaillydried by the exposed and,highlyaheated portions of the steam coil. The vapor=.-:passes to one end otthe tank, and entersthe lowermost moldcompartment through tl e wopening 12 in the plate 1 0., The steam thenwfol-lows the course indicatedbyathe ,arrows. in Fig. 3- ofthe drawings, and it will be understood that this steam-entersthe molds and intimately associates. with the plasticthercin. This steam or vapor. trcatin g operationf is maintained the proper length of timc,.and gives to the plastic material the initial set. Hot water is then pumped into the tank containing the plastic filled molds, and this water remains inpthe said tanksaqrclatively :long time. Steam .continuesto flow through the steam coil .9, and, the-water withinthe tank is boiled and takes atortuous course from the bottom oii thetank tmthetop. through-ithe-.various apertures in the .oppositeends of the shelves which support the plastic filled =molds. This water-passes downwardly through the duct LGatone. end of the tank, and it'is obvious therefore, that a constant.circulation-is:maintained: within-the tank. At the: proper. time, this. water is all. drained from theqtank,:but the; heating coil 9 continues to operate. This operation of the heating coil, causes extnemelyuhot; .air. ito be generated, Within the tank or compartment, whereupon abakingoperation takes place. When this process is completed, the moldsmay be-removed from the tank to cool, and the cement or concrete products arereadyfor use. r a

Bynthe employment of ;a process of this character, thenpla'stic materials are thoroughly.- and. adeopriately treated, and the products will be found to: possess the required .strengthzand.durability- A plastic treating apparatus ct this character -1nay=be used two or three tunes aaday toproduce the desired article.

--=lVhile the present is a disclosure of the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understooduthatthe invention-is not limited thereto, as various changes in the minor details of construction, proportion and arrangement ofparts may be resorted to y if desired without departing from the spirit claims.

What is claimed is: I

1. In an apparatus for treating plastic materials, a tank, the said tank being provided at its lower end with a shallow basin, a heating coil arranged partially within said basin, means for controlling the flow of of the invention as defined by the appended liquid to and from said basin, a plate disposed across said tank above said heating coil, the said plate being provided with an aperture, and the said tank being provided in one of its walls. with a duct establishing communication between the interior of the tank at the upper and lower ends thereof.

2. In an apparatus for treating plastic materials, a tank, a heating coil in said tank, shelves arranged in vertical alinement in the side walls of said tank, the said shelves being provided with openings arranged in staggered relation, and the said shelves being adapted to support molds. I r

3. In an apparatus for treating plastic materials, a tank, shelves projecting into the floploo or thlapatent may be obtained for said tank from the walls thereofand being arranged in spaced relation'to each other, one of the walls of said tank being provided with aduct communicating at its upper end with the top surface of the uppermost shelf "and at its lower end with the bottom of said tank, the outer edges of said shelves being adapted to support molds, the said shelves being provided with openings arranged in staggered relation, and a heating unit in the bottom of said tank.

4. In an apparatus for treating plastic materials, a tank, the said tank being pro- LEONARD A. BELLONBY.

Witnesses: I 1

J. D. WALKER, CHAS. W. DALTON.

five cents each, by addressing the (Commissioner of Patenta,

Washington, D. G." 

